Montessori and Our Youngest Friends

It is often clear to the parents of children in our 3's/4's classrooms and in our Pre-K classroom that we are clearly using Montessori tools to invite their children into the wonderful world of learning, but sometimes that may not be so clear to the families of our youngest children. So I

wanted to take a moment and just take a peek into that classroom to see what, if anything, Montessori was going on...

At the very beginning, even if we are not using a Montessori designed learning tool, such as a spindle box, or a color wheel, we are taking the first steps toward introducing our youngest friends to an environment that is designed much like the environments of their older friends or siblings in the other (older) classrooms.

There are spaces designated for use by just one student, with toys, or games or puzzles laid out on a carpet square to designate space for one.

There are opportunities to play and share a space with just one friend at a time.

And there are opportunities to play in small groups, too. These areas are closely monitored by the teachers, allowing students to have this experience, but making sure it is a positive experience for all who choose to participate. If it's not working out in this bigger play group area for a particular friend, then the teacher can choose to redirect that child to one of the other options that allow for more individual play.

(Notice Zadie's carefully lined up shapes from the bucket before she left this area to investigate the other possibilities in the room!)

All of these seemingly small details are giant stepping stones in this first classroom. First and foremost for our youngest friends is the hard and serious work of being in a classrooms with friends and teachers for 2 hours without their primary caregiver (mom, dad, grandma or nanny). To manage this big task - to be dropped off and then manage their bodies and their emotions and ENJOY their experience - is our greatest work in this first tender year.

In addition, with their routine, schedule and room set up all mirroring the older classrooms, our friends are getting a solid leg up on their start with some of the more formal Montessori learning opportunities awaiting them in the years to come!

Take Apart Returns to Pre-K

One of the favorite projects experienced by our Pre-K students (and some of our staff!!) is our annual "Take-Apart" project. This is a hands-on experience of "deconstruction. Our students are given safety goggles, and instructions on how to use screwdrivers, small hand drills, hammers, and their own muscles to take apart in the means they feel will work any of the myriad of small household appliances and/or electronics that we have acquired sometime in the previous year.

Here is an example of what was in the Take-Apart pile of goodies:

This particular vision of pink lovliness was of great interest to many of our students upon taking a turn at the Take Apart table. Unfortunately, this item seemed keen on keeping its many mysteries hidden from view until Mr. Henry had his turn. Within moments, Henry had discovered the key, and...

Ta Da!!

Thanks, Henry!

Packing Lists

Packing lists are a wonderful ritual here at the Children school!
We prepare for travel by making a list of what we might need during the time away.

Hannah's packing list for Australia:
Princess dress
Toy rabbit
Barbies-princess one
Extra underwear
Pony shoes-crocs
Blue crocs
Chicken and rice
Chicken and noodles

Teacher Cinda's list for Pt Robinson Lighthouse:
Pink umbrella-Molly
Raincoat -Henry Hoffman
Flashlight, blanket- Mrs.MacArthur
Eggs-Julian
Jacket,suitcase,bag-Maddie
Jammies- warm-Leah
Kittens-Harper
Cupcakes-Henry Cassady
Thank you everyone for the great ideas! We have great helpers here at our school!

What Are We Learning?

We are learning, learning, learning all the time!!

In our classrooms and even between rooms, there are skills to practice and master. Here at The Children's School, some of these skills will be in the category of what we refer to as "Practical Life."

These can be skills that we, as adults, do so often, and mastered so long ago ourselves that we don't even think of them as a series of steps to be put together that will then result in one glorious self-sufficient task.

For example - hanging up one's coat. Here at school, we must start the whole process by identifying where the coat should go in the first place. Then, you have to figure out how to take it off!

Once removed, you have to identify some part of that garment that will actually effectively allow you to hang it up so it doesn't fall down. And this doesn't even address the whole inside-out arm thing! See how intricate this really is? It's a skill that our children are practicing everyday, and no matter where a child is along this pathway toward independence, any time they are willing to do any of it themselves, that is SUCCESS!

Another really important skill which leads to self-sufficiency is learning to pour liquid. Here at school this is affectionately known as "pour.pour.stop." Often you will see a set up much like the one pictured above somewhere in your child's classroom (3,4 and Pre-K). The teachers color the liquid to help the children better see the results of their work. The goal is to control the pitcher well enough that you can pour liquid to the marked line and then stop. The encouragement from the teacher, then sounds very much like,"Ok, let's pour...pour...ok STOP!" Again, this takes effort, concentration and control. But once mastered, this skill transfers to many tasks on an everyday basis. Not just the obvious of pouring one's own glass of milk or juice, but also learning how to fill a bucket to wash the car, or put water in your play tea set, or fill the pan with water to do hand-washing at the hand-washing station. All of these small steps play a BIG part toward moving a child further along the road to independence, accompanied with a healthy dose of self-confidence.

We're Back to School!!

In so many ways, this is how I feel at the end of our first week of school - inundated with paperwork! The picture above is in front of my neighborhood elementary school, and I just couldn't help but stop and take a picture of it. (Can you see me?)

As I find myself making lists, checking for completed forms, following up with missing information, I am also shuffling through the multiple forms that have been sent home with each of my 2 children. And of course, everyone wants them NOW! My son, who is a very responsible 13 year old, called me this morning apologetically to say that he had left his packet of completed paperwork on our dining room table, and I couldn't help myself - I answered him with a giggle, "Oh, you mean the one I stayed up until midnight to finish?! No problem, Kiddo, I'll drop them at the school!" You'd think the start of school could be about something more "learny" than forms for goodness sake!

And so much of it is. For our students, as they learn new routines and for our teachers as they learn about their students there are many more important things than emergency numbers and contact information. But for some of us, who understand part of the joy of being entrusted with the care of your children - in all circumstances - as one that demands we be as well prepared as possible, we also understand that sometimes that means we just need the paperwork.

All those phone numbers, names, addresses - these are the tools we will add to our "Preparedness Toolbox" - a toolbox we have been assessing and reassessing actively for the past 10 years. Everyone helps us to put this toolbox in good working order .

This year we have added a Parent Education opportunity around the topic of safety to our schedule. On Wednesday, October 5th, during our lunch program time, we invite parents to come into the school and learn more about how The Children's School, and the greater community of childcare programs housed at our location are prepared to keep your children safe and secure during any unexpected event or emergency. We'll discuss scenarios that are varied in size and scope; we'll discuss safety from an "everyday" perspective, and we'll take time to answer questions and concerns that parents may have in general. Please join us for this important topic.

We Remember Mrs. Jaques

In memory of and thanksgiving for the
life of Elaine Daly Jaques.

November 23, 1951-August 7, 2010.





Personal Goals:

Be in Place
Believe in Your Gifts
Work to Your Passion
Trust Your Instincts

The Clip Board

We use the clipboard for many important tasks at the Children's School. It is used for signing in and
taking notes from the children to send home. Letters are a great way of diffusing feelings around separation. For letters or stories you will hear..."Do you need a secretary?".
Before someone takes a trip it is used to make a packing list. This year Leah and Teacher Cinda were both making packing lists on the same day. Leah made a packing list for her trip to California. And then she helped Teacher Cinda make hers for a trip to Delaware for her daughter's graduation. What a great help Leah was to Teacher Cinda because she remembered to bring food on the airplane....just in case a snack was needed. We love to help our children plan their trips and help their parents bring the most important items. Let us know when you think a packing list might come in handy! Sponge Bob is our cold pack that travels with us to the playground for the bumps and bruises.

A Little Time in The Coop!

These little Playmobile chicken coops are some of the newest additions at The Children's School, courtesy of Teacher Cinda, who is also keeper of a chicken coop of her very own! (See post from April 5th, 2010!) With our conversations about animals, and giving and the Heifer Project well under way, these chicken coops have become a real favorite not only with the students of Teacher Cinda's room (where the coops live), but also with our Lunch Bunch friends. Once again, our children have blessed us with their creativity. Here is a story from Jack, who played at the chicken coops recently with Children's School Alum and current Tuesday Volunteer, Margaret Roe (13 years old). Margaret was Jack's secretary as he told this story:

Once upon a time there was a chicken who was not happy at her home because all her friends were mean. One day she flew up on the roof and would not come down. The lady who took care of the chickens was mad, so she climbed up and tried to get the chicken down, but she couldn't. The chicken's friends felt bad so they said "Sorry." So the chicken came down and was happy.

The end.

Thank you Jack for your story, and thank you, Margaret for being there to capture it!

The Montessori Mafia - Ideas Market - WSJ

The Children's School is part of a proud and wonderful tradition of fostering creativity.

We want to invite you to read the following article, and share it with friends.

(We are still taking registrations for the 2011-12 school year!!)

The Montessori Mafia - Ideas Market - WSJ

Preschool lessons: New research shows that teaching kids more and more, at ever-younger ages, may backfire. - By Alison Gopnik - Slate Magazine

Dear TCS Friends:

I first read this article as a shared post from our beloved Teacher Cinda. It so speaks to what our staff at The Children's School tries everyday to foster in our young students that I wanted to share it with as many friends of our program as I could possibly reach. Please take a moment to click on the link below and read this research.

Thank you.

Preschool lessons: New research shows that teaching kids more and more, at ever-younger ages, may backfire. - By Alison Gopnik - Slate Magazine

Children Discuss Emergencies around the World

Art Linkletter, a CBS television personality when I was a kid, used to say "Kids say the darndest things!" And if you listen closely to our friends here at The Children's School, some of the "things" you might hear them say these days sound something like this:

An Earthquake Report by Gavin and Caleb in our Pre-K Class while sitting at the 911 Emergency Station in their classroom -

Gavin: We picked up an earthquake in Japan...

Caleb: An earthquake in Egypt and Japan!

Gavin: A really BIG one. If you look, you see hot lava coming up everywhere!

Caleb: Underwater volcanoes are exploding!

Gavin: It's really DANGEROUS! Cover your head.

Caleb: Hide somewhere so volcanic rock can't fall on you. Hide under your desk!

Our classrooms have phone stations accessible to the children all year round. These include a variety of phones, as well as keyboards. They can be used to call friends, or as 911 stations to pass on really important information to their community at large.

In a different area of the room, where children were looking at a globe of their world, our teachers were challenged to answer these questions from our students:

"Where is Seattle?" and then "Where is Japan?"

"What are the arrows for?" (they children were looking at currents denoted on the globe)

"What is the big word?" (It was Australia!)

"What happened in an earthquake?"

"What is the blue?" (looking at a line on the globe) "Is it light rail?"

"Why are there blue lines?"

And while looking at some of the other resources on earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes at this same resource table, these questions came up:

"What are the little dots on the volcanic rock?" (Rm. 341has actual volcanic rocks for the children to look at, hold and observe.)

"Why are there lines on the rock?"

"Where does the lava come from on Mt. Vesuvius?"

"Tell me about the trees in the tsunami water."

All of our teachers practice actively listening to your children as they make sense of their world through experiences such as these. It is a privilege to be present with your children as they explore and even explain what is around them.

Being Prepared at TCS

The Children's School revisits Emergency Preparedness regularly throughout the year, and most recently at the March Teacher's Meeting. But with the recent events in Japan this past weekend, we thought we could remind ourselves what resources are at our disposal to do our own due diligence when it comes to "Being Prepared."

At the beginning of the school year, families receive a pink booklet entitled "The Children's School - Emergency Preparedness and

Safety Handbook." This booklet has several useful articles, checklists, and pointers for preparing your home, and your family for the unexpected.

One of the links here on our blog's front page is taken from that booklet: Your Role in The Children's School Emergency Preparedness Plan. This document contains a table that you can cut out. It is designed to cut in two, so that 2 household members can have easy access to information such as the school address, child's teacher's name and cell, etc. This is the kind of information that can go out of one's head when an emergency arises.

Another great resource is the website from King County on preparedness 3Days3Ways.

In order to truly be prepared, we must update records, update forms, and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE our procedures.

With our media filled with images of earthquake and tsunami, we have extended this "practice" to include language. In the older classrooms only (M-F, MWF and Pre-K) there are now books, games and maps available to our children who are curious about some of language they may be hearing or images they may be seeing.

NOT ALL CHILDREN are interested in these resources. They are there for those who need/want to know more. These classroom resources include: "Tsunamis" by Luke Thompson; "Tsunami for Chile, Hawaii and Japan" - a USGS book; the "Ring of Fire" map; the globe; "Earthquakes" by David Newton; a map of Northern Japan from the 3/12/11 NY Times; the "EMERCENCY" take away game; and the TCS-created board game about fire and earthquake drills and emergencies. There is renewed interest and practice for the children at their "communication stations" where they send out emails, and dial "911" reporting emergencies and sending out for help.

We want to remind families that, as with all of our materials in the classrooms, the use of these materials in child-interest driven.

A Chicken Named Pot Pie Comes To School

    We had the great pleasure of meeting Lander's chicken Pot Pie! Pot Pie likes to eat worms....She was a happy and calm visitor and her family name is Sex Link. She is very good with children. Thanks so much Annette for bringing the farm experience to school!
    We are now  entering the time of year when grown up chickens are laying eggs. Teacher Cinda's chickens are laying now. When we have enough sunlight in the day this is the effect it has! Hooray for sunlight! We have more information about Teacher Cinda's chicken family... you can see last year's post (April 5, 2010) as well.

Snow Delays

Due to hazardous road conditions, The Children's School will NOT hold morning classes today. We will be open for Lunch Bunch and Pre-K class this afternoon.

The table was set....

The treats were delivered....

And didn't we have a marvelous celebration!

Thank you to everyone who brought treats, and flowers, and napkins. Thanks to everyone who danced and ate and brought joy to our days together in school as we celebrated together our joy and thanks for the holidays!!

Now we will gather in the new year, and continue our work together as friends learning, playing and working together! Happy New Year, Everyone!

The Art and Joy of Giving at TCS

This kind of picture - pretty packages all wrapped and ready to go - is sometimes the image that comes to mind when we think of giving at this time of year. Many of our families will be celebrating some kind of holiday that will include the exchange of gifts. Here at The Children's School, we try to give our students multiple opportunities to experience "giving."

For example, as stated in our mission and values, we experience our values through action, one of which is contributing to the wider world. The Holiday Families Project is one such way in which our whole TCS Family can be involved in contributing to the enjoyment of this season by others. This year we helped 15 children (from 4 different families) receive something they wished for, and something they needed. It is amazing to be working with such a generous group of families. Your kindness is greatly appreciated!!

Another way for our students to experience the "sharing" of giving is with the following:

What you see here are the efforts of the Pre-K Class and several friends from Lunch Bunch. All that lovely candy donated for building Graham Cracker Houses, but which was not used is carefully measured, bagged and tagged by our students, and then...

SHARED!! Although not every student who hleped to bag the candy gets to go on the delivery trip next door to the Interagency School, they do all get to hear the wonderful comments written to them by the recipients of these simple but lovingly prepared packages!

And here is another example of how our young friends from the M-F, MWF and Pre-K classes can experience this holiday. If you find a package such as this one, know that the "shopping" was done with excitement and love as your child "picked out" something JUST FOR YOU, and then carefully wrapped it up using lovely gift wrapping resources of tissue paper and TAPE!

This simple practice of giving is designed to give a child all the fun of looking, choosing, and GIVING a carefully chosen gift for a loved one - without the complicating factors of money, gas, malls, and parking lots! Please enjoy these simple gifts in the spirit they were intended - the spirit of the joy of giving! Happy Holidays, Everyone!

De-Mystifying the "Inset!"

Well, here it is - IN ACTION!! The inset was designed by Dr. Maria Montessori to help children with the small motor skills needed to start writing. The board holds a metal plate with a shape cut out of it. The metal plate fits either on the left or right side. Pieces of paper, cut to fit the size of the metal plate, sit underneath. The child can then use their pencil to trace along the inside edges of the metal cut-out. At The Children's School, once the shape has been traced, they can then put the completed "page" into a booklet entitled "My Inset Book."

Repeated opportunities to work with the insets will result in practice making the shapes, not only by tracing the inside of the cut-out, but also by using just the blue shape (see above) and tracing the outside. This increased skill in tracing a shape translates into increased control of the pencil (or any writing implement), which in turn increases the child's success with writing letters and numbers.

We will also have children, like our friend above, who will choose to color in their shapes. He has colored in his triangle on the left, and a circle on the right. Eventually, some children will use their traced shape to create a picture - a rectangle may become a door; a quatrefoil, a flower. I found my daughter's inset book the other day. She's 9 now. Wonderful memories!

Snow + Wind = No School

Due to the unusual weather we experienced today, and the continued bad weather expected tomorrow, The Children's School will be closed until Monday November 29th.

Just so we're clear, there's "s'no" school tomorrow!! (Ha! ha!)

Snow Threatens - No School Today!

Due to the threat of snow today, The Children's School is CLOSED TODAY. Enjoy the day off!

Prek Thanksgiving Ideas

We read a book that prompted us to say what we were thankful for at Thanksgiving and which games we might want to play at Thanksgiving.

Thankful...

Sophia-Toys

James-Presents

Ella-Presents

Amit-Chutes and Ladders

Leah-Little sister,Inky

Grace-Dog- Bodie

Caleb-Dog- Maggie

Skye-Cat- Molly

Andrew-Brothers -Ben and Will

Kate-Mommy and Daddy

Emi-Chicken

Migel-Jesus

Evan-Food

Lilia-Hearts

Lily-Chicken

Gavin-Jesus

Teacher Cinda- All of these wonderful children and my family

Games

Sophia-All

James-Baseball

Amit-Candyland

Leah,Andrew-Hide and Seek

Grace-Basketball

Caleb,Ella,Migel,Evan-Tag

Skye,Kate, Emi,Gavin-Duck Duck Goose

Lily-Clock Game

Teacher Cinda-Speed Scrabble

Have a great holiday...

Teacher Cinda